I have a 20gal long tank with 2 peppered cories and 2 rasboras. I was thinking about getting a bolivian ram or two, 4-6 more rasboras, and 3 more peppered corys. Would dwarf corys be better so thr ground isnt crowded?

i'd advise against getting more than one bolivian ram. 2 males would fight too much and a m-f pair could become very aggressive if they bred. The rest of your plans sound good though, pepper corys would do better with 4+ of them. Only issue is that the upper levels will be a bit empty with only the rasboras there...

I agree. Rasbora and corys are shoaling fish that must be in groups, the more the better, but a 20g tank does have limitations. Corys at 4-5 and rasbora at 6-7 (assuming the common "harlequin" species). You could with this have another shoaling fish that is smallish and peaceful; a different rasbora, a small characin, even one of the "dwarf" rasbora or tetra species. Rasbora are very peaceful so smaller fish would not be trouble, same for the corys.

We have profiles here, second tab form the left in the blue bar across the top, check under the sections "Cyprinids" for the rasbora species, several are listed, and under "Characins" the ember Tetra is a dwarf species. Your rasbora and Cory species will be there too, have a read of that for more info.

The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.[unknown source]

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]

Is it a 20 long or tall? If it's a long, then more cories and rasboras would be perfect. If it's a tall, then 1 more cory and finish out the shoal of rasboras... Then find a fish that used a different part of the water column. Perhaps a school of hatchetfish to cruise under the surface would do.

"Tetra" covers a wide array of species, so depending upon which one, yes or no to your question.

"Compatibility" is often mis-understood, or more correctly some aquarists forget some issues that affect compatibility. Like the natural behaviours of the fish, and here I mean, how do they swim? Active swimming fish like all the Danio, need more room that non-active swimming fish like the Rasbora, even though the fish may be the same "size" and same number. The two need a different environment. And water filtration/flow impact on this. More active fish need more oxygen, less active need less and usually are better suited to quiet or even still waters. Ram and rasbora are such fish; corys vary with species.

You have sedate fish in the rasbora and corys, and the Bolivian Ram is similar. Any added fish group must be along the same lines; if not, it causes stress to the existing fish, having something actively swimming around them.

Then there is fish size, which differs from tetra to tetra. And water parameters, some are wild caught and need attention in that aspect.

The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.[unknown source]

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]

thanks for all the information, looks like im going to definately just go with 1 bolivian ram, 12-14 rasboras and 5 corys.

You guys or gals have been a big help. Later today ill be off to Exotic Aquarium off franklin out here in sac to get some more gravel and possibly some drift wood? Gravel is super cheap there but the drift wood is pretty expensive, $20 for a little stick, I can go to the river and pull some out and break it down clean it and its free but the gas to get there haha

thanks for all the information, looks like im going to definitely just go with 1 Bolivian ram, 12-14 rasboras and 5 corys.

You guys or gals have been a big help. Later today ill be off to Exotic Aquarium off franklin out here in sac to get some more gravel and possibly some drift wood? Gravel is super cheap there but the drift wood is pretty expensive, $20 for a little stick, I can go to the river and pull some out and break it down clean it and its free but the gas to get there haha

any type of cheap aquatic plants you recommend?

Although expensive, wood from the fish store should be safer. Get the very dark wood if you can, it is called several things, ironwood, jetawood, malaysian wood, mangrove root... It is heavy so it sinks, it generally is safe. Mopani wood (the two-tone wood from Africa) may contain toxic fungus, as noted in a couple of other threads recently.

Plants. Substrate rooted plants are good because they improve the substrate conditions. Swords are easy. Crypts can be fussy, you might not want to start with these. Floating plants are always good, Water Sprite is one of the best, but stem plants allowed to float also work, i particularly like Brazilian Pennywort. You can see info and photos on these by clicking on the shaded names, they are in our plant profiles section. On the swords, check out Amazon Sword, pygmy chain sword [this is ideal], dwarf sword.

The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.[unknown source]

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]